Bullet proof shielding or armor has a long and varied background. As modern weapons have been developed, a commensurate effort to develop an armor construction which provides the necessary degree of protection as well as minimizes the weight of the armor has occurred.
Particularly as applied to armor which can be worn over the torso of a human, the prior art has also attempted to provide a degree of flexibility in the construction of the armor to minimize discomfort and provide reasonable manueverability.
The latest torso or vest armor which the market presently offers commercially, and which is primarily directed to military or law enforcement personnel, essentially remains a combination of steel plating and layers of tough nylon-like fabric or steel and ceramic combinations. The designs vary in relationship to the degree of protection offered which ranges from small handgun to the powerful armor piercing rifle ammunition.
One of the major problems in prior art body armor constructions capable of protecting against the more powerful ammunition is the increased overall weight of the body armor unit. One of the most popular present designs comprise steel plating in combination with many layers of a strong nylon or nylon-like fabric. This unit weighs at least approximately 18 to 19 pounds for frontal vest protection only. The cost of such units is relatively high. Other prior designs increase flexibility or lessen overall weight, however, this is accomplished only with a drammatic decrease in reliability and/or the range of the effectiveness of the protection.
Ceramic or ceramic-like materials have not generally been accepted without a composite metal backing construction since ceramic materials tend to break apart or shatter when struck by a bullet or the like. Therefore armor designs suitable for a metal or metal-ceramic composite armor plating are not particularly well suited for non-metal ceramic components. This is particularly true in applications calling for protection against high powered rifle ammunition.
Non-metallic, ceramic-like armor offers a potential solution to the problem of excessive weight even in these maximum protection applications. However, prior art efforts have failed to develop a satisfactory construction which maximizes protection and minimizes the weight factor in a practical, compact and economical manner which deals with the different characteristics of ceramic-like materials.
One of the major drawbacks to the use of the hard ceramics or glass-ceramic materials available for armor protection is the characteristic of breaking or shattering upon impact by a bullet or similar missile. Additionally, even though these materials are much lighter than steel, they must usually be employed in much thicker plates to obtain comparable effectiveness. As the thickness of the ceramic plate increases to obtain comparable stopping capability, the weight advantage of ceramic or ceramic-like materials tends to become less significant.
Another problem with ceramic or ceramic-like materials stems from this same shattering or break-up characteristic. Compared to steel, for example, the initial hit upon ceramic results in destruction of a relatively larger area. Therefore, a second hit at or very near the impact area represents a potential significant hazard to the user.
Therefore, although some ceramic or glass-ceramic materials have shown relatively good ballistic resistant properties, prior and presently available armor constructions have not offered a practical solution to permit the use of ceramic materials in armor applications having a high margin of protection and a significantly reduced overall weight to be competitive in the market.
Examples of prior art attempts to provide armor vest or body shields are found among the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,289,899; 3,894,472; 3,783,449; 3,855,632; 3,577,836; 2,697,054; 2,401,281 and 3,409,907. While these prior art constructions incorporate various composites of metal and non-metal, they are either too heavy, bulky, awkward or incapable of sufficient bullet stopping characteristics to provide a satisfactory solution. There has been a long unfilled need for a relatively light, compact armor design which also is capable of maximum bullet stopping capacity relative to its weight and which is well-suited to employ ceramic-like materials at their best advantage.